


And isn't it just so pretty?

by Morganatique9



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: AU, Alphabet, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Love, Marriage, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Finale, Post-Season/Series 06, daily life, sooooo much fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morganatique9/pseuds/Morganatique9
Summary: Collection of drabbles narrating Annie Edison and Jeff Winger’s journey through marriage, being a parent, routine and their smooshy love life… from A to Z. (AU)
Relationships: Annie Edison/Jeff Winger
Comments: 56
Kudos: 78





	1. A for Airport.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> First of all, I would like to thank Readymcreaderson (Sally) for giving me the alphabet idea for this fic. I really wanted to write a collection of ridiculously cute and fluffy moments between Jeff and Annie, and this idea was really fitting.
> 
> So, I'm not going to be very active on this fic, at least not like I was with "Advanced Marriage Guidance" and "To All The College Boys I've Loved Before". It'll probably be something I'll update from time to time, whenever I feel like writing adorable life moments in the relationship of these two dorks that I love very much.
> 
> Obviously, it sets in an Alternate Universe, post season 6. The other characters from the show will probably be included in some chapters but since I'm not sure yet, I'll update the tags when need be.
> 
> It'll be both from Jeff and Annie's perspectives, depending on the chapters.
> 
> Okay, in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy your reading, don't hesitate to comment or leave kudos if you feel like it :)

**_ Airport. _ **

“Come on Jeff, we’re going to be late!”

“Our flight is in four hours Annie, I think late is the opposite of what we’ll be if we leave for the airport now.”

Jeff knew exactly how Annie would react to his response, because she had no secrets for him. And she reacted just like he expected – by rolling her eyes at him. He couldn’t hide a little smirk when she did so, which earned him a light punch in the arm.

“You can be so annoying sometimes!” Annie said afterwards.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. I know how you get about airports.”

Annie softened just a little and Jeff knew she would shortly lift her eyes up at him, her adorable Disney blue eyes that he loved so much.

“Fine, I admit, I can be a little intense about being on time.” Annie eventually conceded with a chuckle.

“Oh I’m aware of that. After three years of dating, including one being married, I had time to get used to it. Almost.” Jeff told her.

“Then you know that a plane doesn’t wait for all its passengers to take off.” Annie retorted.

“That I do.”

“So…?”

“Ugh okay, we’ll leave in thirty minutes, let me at least drink my coffee first.” Jeff said with a begging look.

“Twenty minutes? We can’t trust traffic.”

“Fine, twenty minutes, no less.”

Annie smiled widely, obviously satisfied. Jeff would have liked taking his time but he didn’t want to upset or disappoint her. He could never. He loved the way she smiled too much.

Nineteen minutes and forty seconds later, Jeff and Annie were in the car, house locked, suitcases in the trunk, ready to head towards the airport. As Jeff predicted, they arrived earlier than Annie expected there, which meant they would have to kill time until they could go to their boarding gate. Jeff grunted while they sat down at a coffee shop, their suitcases at their feet.

“Don’t be so grumpy, let me get you a coffee.” Annie told him.

She gently kissed Jeff on the cheek before walking towards the counter to order. Jeff checked his phone to make sure he had their flight reservations at hand. Their flight would depart at 11.35 A.M. from JFK Airport and it would land in Rome, Italy at 8.05 P.M. – well, with the time zone difference, it would actually be 2.05 A.M. the next day in Italy but Jeff would rather not think about that just yet.

Jeff put his phone back inside his pocket and looked at Annie from afar. She was currently ordering, studying attentively the menu. She looked so beautiful, even when she was doing something as mundane as ordering a coffee. They’ve been together for three years, yet, Jeff never ceased to be impressed by her beauty, her sweetness. By her in general.

When she came back a few seconds later with two cups of coffee in her hands, she sat down in front of him and gave him his cup.

“What is it?” Annie asked when she noticed how Jeff was looking at her.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about something.” Jeff answered.

“Oh, what were you thinking about?” Annie inquired, curious.

“How lucky I am. That’s all.” Jeff genuinely said.

Annie didn’t answer out loud but her eyes sparkled and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Jeff knew she liked it when he casually told her sweet things like this.

“So, what are we going to do in Rome?” Annie then asked excitingly.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t already written down a program in a notebook that is probably hidden somewhere in your bag.” Jeff teased her, smiling.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Annie replied playfully.

“Right.” Jeff played along.

“But, you know, not that I already thought about it obviously, but it would be so romantic to eat a real Italian pizza in front of the Trevi fountain.” Annie immediately said with dreamy eyes.

“Let’s put that on the top of our Italy to-do list, then.” Jeff approved.

“Abed would love it. A perfect romance trope.” Annie pointed out, giggling.

“He would definitely love that. Remember when he said our whole relationship was an exemplified romance trope at our wedding?” Jeff recalled, nostalgic.

“Of course I remember. Britta and Frankie were even a little bit disappointed he didn’t say the same thing about them.” Annie remembered with a smile.

“Oh, Britta and Frankie are, like, the cutest, we will never top that.”

“For sure.”

Annie and Jeff smiled at each other, then, they kept talking while drinking their coffee and waiting for the time to board on their plane. Eventually, they heard the call for passengers boarding on the Rome flight and they were one of the firsts to wait at the boarding gate. Annie was trying to practice her Italian, which Jeff found insanely cute. But yet again, was there even anything he didn’t love about Annie?

Once they were able to get on the plane, Jeff could hear Annie saying _buongiorno_ and _grazie_ to the flight attendants, even though they probably were American as well. Jeff didn’t point it out to Annie because she was so happy with herself, so happy about going to Italy for what felt like a second honeymoon that he didn't want to kill the mood. Besides, Jeff was thrilled himself.

They quickly found their designated seats and sat down before taking their coats off and getting comfortable. Annie was already going through the movies’ catalogue suggested during the flight. When the plane took off twenty minutes later, Jeff held Annie’s hand, as he usually did when he was nervous. Travelling by plane was not something he was still very used to, but with Annie by his side, intertwining her fingers to his, it almost felt okay.

“See?” Annie then said. “We weren’t late, our flight departed on time, and even though we arrived a little bit early, it gave us the opportunity to get a coffee and have a nice talk.”

Jeff smiled and nodded to let her know he approved. They had arrived more than a “little bit” early but he didn’t mind, because he was about to spend an amazing week eating pasta and wandering around the streets of Rome with the love of his life, and that alone was more important than arriving three hours early at the airport.


	2. B for Birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shoutout to WowSoBoring, who'll know why hehe
> 
> Hope you'll like this chapter!! It was really nice writing it because of the alarming fluff content it has.
> 
> As I've already mentioned in the previous chapter, this is not a fic I'll update as regularly as my other works. But it is definitely something I love writing so you'll get more of these in the future, that's for sure! Anyway, enjoy your read, any feedback is appreciated :)

**_ Birthday. _ **

December 7th was a very important date for Jeff Winger. Not because it was close to Christmas. Not because it was foreshadowing the end of the year. And definitely not because Walmart was doing a discount on their cheese templates and Swiss raclette machines – although it did look terribly delicious. But as he was getting older, Jeff was even more careful with maintaining his body’s health and that meant no carbs, hence absolutely no cheese.

December 7th was a very important date because it was the birthday of someone Jeff held very dear to his heart. Someone he cherished. Someone he would willingly give his life for, if need be.

Like each year, the plan was simple – getting up a little bit earlier than usual, making a ridiculously opulent breakfast, arranging it nicely on a tray, taking it to the bedroom and being able to witness the look of wonder as they wake up and find what Jeff has been preparing.

The rest of the day would be an absolute treat to celebrate that birthday adequately – going for a stroll at the park, having a picnic there for lunch, and celebrating the rest of the day with family and friends by throwing a lovely birthday party back at the house.

Jeff loved planning these kind of days and even though it was pretty much the same schedule each year, it was still as thrilling and exciting as the first time he did it.

As soon as Jeff woke up, he got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Afterwards, he quickly got dressed and went to the kitchen downstairs to make breakfast. All the ingredients were already waiting for him in the fridge or on the counter. Jeff set to work right ahead – he prepared some homemade pancakes and French toasts. As these were cooking, he arranged the tray beforehand by putting a large bowl of cereals, strawberry and blueberry marmalade, maple syrup, peanut butter, milk and orange juice on it. Once the pancakes and the French toasts were cooked, Jeff put them alongside the rest of the breakfast on the tray and made sure everything was set before carrying it to the bedroom. He had probably been too optimistic about going up the stairs with such a heavy tray but he made sure he was careful so that it could arrive to its destination safe and sound.

When Jeff got in front of the door, he managed to open it as silently as possible and walked into the bedroom. He put the tray down on the bed, went to slightly open the curtains and started singing in a low voice:

“Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you, Ela and Zoey… Happy birthday to you…”

Jeff felt a warmth in his chest when his daughters woke up and gasped at the sight of breakfast on their bed.

“Look so yummy!!”

“Thanks Daddy!”

Jeff kneeled down so that his two daughters could fall into his arms and hug him. He hugged them back, squeezing their tiny figures against him, feeling all the love and the appreciation coming from them.

“So how does it feel to be four years old, girls?” Jeff asked them gleefully.

“Nothing.” Zoey truthfully answered, approved by Ela.

“Nothing, really?” Jeff repeated in a pretend shocked tone. “Four is a big deal. Auntie Britta has a special gift for you two for the occasion.”

“Really?? Where’s Auntie Britta?” Ela exclaimed, suddenly delighted.

“She’ll come to the house this afternoon, just like everybody else to celebrate your birthday. Are you excited?”

“Yeeeeah!” The girls shouted in one voice.

Both Ela and Zoey stopped screaming at the same time as they were looking at the doorframe behind Jeff. He turned around to see what had caught his daughters’ attention and a smile immediately tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“I heard someone’s turning four years old today.” A singing voice said.

“Me!” Ela and Zoey yelled in unison.

“No it’s me!” Ela protested.

“No, me!” Zoey said.

“It’s MY birthday!” Ela insisted.

“Girls, don’t fight, it is _your_ birthday,” Jeff said before tickling Ela’s nose, who laughed, “and _your_ birthday too,” he continued, tickling Zoey’s nose this time, who giggled too. “You were born on the same day, for your mom and mine’s greatest pleasure.”

As he was saying that, Jeff felt a hand resting on his shoulder. Still kneeling down, he looked up to lock eyes with Annie, who was genuinely smiling.

“Now now, your dad made a delicious breakfast, you need to eat it all up!” Annie cheered while clapping.

Ela and Zoey didn’t argue with that and instantly jumped back onto their beds to start eating. Jeff got back up and silently admired his daughters, their mouths full of pancakes and their hands already covered in peanut butter.

“I hope I’ll get the same thing for my birthday in two weeks.” Annie whispered to Jeff while looking at the food.

“Don’t worry about that, you’ll get a special breakfast.” Jeff whispered back in a teasing voice.

“Jeff!” Annie exclaimed, cheeks slightly blushed.

If there was one thing amongst many others that Jeff loved about Annie, it was that even after being married and having children together, he would still manage to make her blush and have a special effect on her.

Quickly enough, without sharing a word out loud, Annie and Jeff both walked up to their daughters’ bed and sat on it next to them to help them eat all these pancakes and French toasts. As Annie was wiping Zoey’s face from all the blueberry jam she had gotten on her cheeks and Ela was loudly drinking a glass of milk, Jeff remained silent, awestruck in front of this mundane scene that was now a part of his daily life. A life that he loved, appreciated and cherished. Every second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to AlmightyMirage, who's also writing a super cute alphabet fic, don't hesitate to read it! > https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748215/chapters/62526955#workskin
> 
> And of course, thanks to Readymcreaderson who gave me the idea in the first place <3


	3. C for Cardigan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New letter!
> 
> Thanks to Allyjayrunaway for the cardigan idea, it helped me to get another ridiculously cute and fluffy chapter out of it.
> 
> Hope you readers will like it! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)

**_ Cardigan. _ **

If Jeff had known all these years ago that the first time he would take Annie out on a date, he would be almost as nervous as the time he interviewed for Hammish, Hammish & Hamlin, he would not have believed it. And yet, here he was, on this chilly cloudy Saturday afternoon, waiting in front of Annie’s building in his Lexus, terribly nervous.

It took a month after Annie had returned from her internship in Washington D.C. for Jeff to finally gather the courage to ask her out. Her being away all summer made him realize how much he wanted to be with her, to be close to her, to never let her go again. However, he was also very scared of the implied meaning of all these feelings.

After being spurred by Britta to make the first step, Jeff had finally done it. He had officially asked Annie to go out with him. In all fairness, it was not very surprising for anyone when Annie said “yes” right away, in her usual delighted and thrilled tone that Jeff adored so much.

Unlike what his weather app was predicting for today, the weather was nowhere near being sunny. It was early October in Greendale and it was not supposed to be chilly already. Yet, Jeff had to turn the heat on in his car to avoid freezing to death while waiting for Annie to meet him.

Jeff quickly took a glance at his watch on his left wrist. He had been waiting for more than six minutes now and he thought it was odd. Not that he minded the waiting but Annie Edison was not a person who happened to be late. Maybe something was wrong. Maybe she would stand him up, and would not want to go out with him anymore. Maybe the ship had sailed. Maybe it took Jeff too much time to finally admit how he felt about her and she got tired of it.

“What’s on your mind? You look very pensive.”

Jeff felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as the melody of Annie’s voice rang to his ears. He turned his head on his right to face her, already sitting in the passenger’s seat, smiling from ear to ear. He was so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t heard her coming into the car. As usual, his mind had played tricks on him and made him believe the worst scenario possible. Fortunately, this time, his mind had been wrong. Annie was here, sitting next to him, looking terribly cute with her white beanie on.

“Good to go?” Jeff asked her instantly.

Annie nodded vigorously and in a matter of seconds, Jeff started the engine and drove away towards the destination he had in mind. He had to change his plans because of the weather but hopefully, Annie would still enjoy her afternoon. Jeff hoped with all of his heart that Annie would have a good time. With him.

They were chatting nonchalantly until they reached their destination. Once Jeff had parked the car, both he and Annie got out of it at the same time. A bit hesitant and – much to his despair – shy, Jeff almost took Annie’s hand in his before changing his mind at the last second. They had just gotten to their first date, it was too soon to walk hand in hand with her. But damn, how he wished he could intertwine her tiny fingers in his.

Therefore, Jeff walked next to Annie, hands tucked inside his pockets, trying to focus on the time being and ignore the voice in his head that kept yelling he would eventually screw it all up. He didn’t want to screw it up. It was _Annie_. He wanted to be perfect for her.

“What do you think?” Jeff asked her when they stopped in front of the entrance.

“I… I must say I’m surprised, I didn’t think you’d like to go to these kind of places.” Annie admitted with honesty.

“To be fair, I was planning on taking you to this lovely park downtown where we could’ve eaten one of the best ice-cream in town while walking around the lake but unfortunately, the weather was not on my side today. Besides, I figured you’d dig this place more in the end. Was I right?”

“You want me to be honest? This is a hundredth time better than the park.” Annie confessed, giggling happily. “Thank you Jeff, it was such a good idea!”

Jeff internally congratulated himself. Of course Annie would be thrilled to visit the museum of Nature and Science. Maybe the date would go as smoothly as possible, after all.

As they were casually walking in the alleys of the museum, Jeff realized he was not interested one bit in the exposition as he was silently admiring Annie’s fascination for everything she was seeing. Annie’s intelligence and passion were so cute and enjoyable that Jeff preferred to focus on it, if he was honest with himself.

At some point, Jeff noticed how shivery Annie looked. Concerned, he frowned and softly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jeff asked her.

“I’m fine, I’m just a bit cold.” Annie answered, rubbing her arms to warm herself up.

“Didn’t you have a coat when we got here?” Jeff remembered, trying to think.

“Oh… Shoot. It was a cardigan, actually, but I just realized I left it in your car.” Annie sighed. 

“Wait here, I’ll get it for you.” Jeff immediately told her, starting to turn around.

“Oh no, it’s okay Jeff, we’re already halfway through the museum, you’re not going to go back to your car and then back here.”

“I don’t mind Annie, I don’t want you to get a cold or something.”

“No but really Jeff, I’m embarrassed to make you run over to your car.”

Jeff quickly thought things through, pouting. A few seconds later, he thought of a better idea that didn’t require him to run back to his car.

“Here, take this.” Jeff simply said while getting closer to Annie.

Jeff took his coat off and gently put it over Annie’s shoulders. As he expected, she didn’t complain and immediately closed the buttons to cover her upper body. She sighed of content and smiled to Jeff.

“Thanks, I feel a lot better now.” Annie told him.

“Of course. Besides, I’m kind of glad I avoided the marathon to the car and back there.”

Annie genuinely laughed at Jeff’s tease and with that done, they both continued their tour around the museum. When they were almost at the end of the tour, Annie walked faster in front of him and all of a sudden, something caught Jeff’s eye. In Annie’s bag, a seemingly soft fabric was apparent, one of the sleeve hanging loosely out of it. It was beige and Jeff didn’t have to be a fashion genius to figure out it was most definitely the cardigan Annie had supposedly forgotten in the car.

When Jeff connected the dots in his mind and figured out Annie’s little plan, he was not even annoyed one bit and just started smiling like an idiot. Of course Annie had not forgotten her cardigan in his car. Annie Edison was a bright young woman with a remarkable brain, she never forgot anything. She just wanted an excuse to be able to wear Jeff’s coat.

Later that day, when Jeff got his coat back and put it back on, it smelled like Annie and he loved it so much he realized he never wanted to spend another minute of his life without it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to AlmightyMirage, who's also writing a super cute alphabet fic, don't hesitate to read it! > https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748215/chapters/62526955#workskin
> 
> And of course, thanks to Readymcreaderson who gave me the idea in the first place <3


	4. D for Daffodils.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cute and fluffy chapter! Hope you'll like it, kudos and comments are greatly appreciatd :)

**_ Daffodils. _ **

Annie and Jeff had been together for at least four years now, yet, Annie insisted on keeping the flame alive every day. Jeff ensured her that the flame was nowhere near being extinguished, regardless, it meant the world to Annie to keep having great or small gestures of affection on a daily basis. Even though there were no particular occasions. Such as this Thursday afternoon, for instance.

Annie knew Jeff was having a hard week at work. He was crawling under paperwork and had gone into an argument with his boss. Therefore, his mood was not lightened, to say the least. Which is why Annie decided she wanted to cheer him up when they would both go home that night and she needed to find something as quickly as possible. It was already 4 P.M. and she had to go home because being six months pregnant made her want to pee every thirty minutes and it was certainly not a pleasant feeling.

That explained why Annie Edison Winger was wandering in the corridors of the local mall, looking for the perfect little touch of affection that would soften Jeff’s sometimes cold heart. Annie knew how stressed Jeff could be regarding his work. However, this week, it seemed to be even worse than usual.

At first, she thought about a new piece of clothing. She strolled in several menswear shops, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren or Lawrence & Larimer. Unfortunately, nothing appealed to her enough to buy it and give it as a gift to her husband.

Afterwards, she thought maybe some funny book would make him laugh. Jeff was not the greatest reader of them all but ever since he started dating Annie, he began to open up a little bit more to the literary world. Annie looked for anything in the bookstore that she thought Jeff might like, such as a sportsman autobiography, or a funny philosophical book on how to take life easy. Sadly, yet again, nothing seemed good enough in the moment.

Later on, after giving up and going to urinate in the mall’s bathroom, Annie thought about a skin or hair product. Maybe another cologne would make Jeff happy? Even though Annie was perfectly content with the current cologne Jeff was wearing, despite being almost grossed out by it during her first few weeks of pregnancy. Maybe he would enjoy a weekend away in a SPA? Or maybe not. Annie could definitely not picture herself getting a massage and chilling in a jacuzzi with her currently bloated belly.

When she stepped out of the beauty shop, Annie sighed loudly and wiped her face with her hand. She was desperate – what was she going to get Jeff? It was now almost 5 P.M. and her legs were barely supporting her body and newly gained weight.

Suddenly, Annie had to stop in front of a flower shop because she was out of air from walking this much. If her doctor could see her right now, walking restlessly in a mall with lots of stairs and full of people, she would probably be having a hard time and a proper lecture… But her doctor was not here to witness that, so she could allow herself to be disobedient for once. A good night of sleep would make up for it, either way.

Only then did she have a sort of revelation. She looked at the vast display of flowers, all as gorgeous as the others. There were so many different varieties, so many different colors and so many different smells.

Annie loved flowers. They were soft, beautiful and they certainly brought another light in a home. She always loved it when Jeff was getting her a bouquet, which happened occasionally, from time to time. What she loved most about it was that Jeff never fell into a form of habit and usually tried to diversify, pick a different variety of flowers.

It suddenly felt obvious to her. Never once in her life was she disappointed or uninterested whenever someone had given her a bouquet of flowers.

***

When her husband came home that night, even though he looked grumpy and tired, Annie could not help but smile giddily as she was stomping with impatience. It did not take a long time for Jeff to notice that.

“Hey kitty cat, how come you look so ecstatic?” Jeff asked her before planting a soft kiss on Annie’s forehead.

“I’m not ecstatic.” Annie denied, even though she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Come on, you look like that time you searched through my e-mails and found out I was taking you on a surprise trip to Disneyland for your birthday.” Jeff pointed out with an amused smirk.

“Can’t a loving woman be happy her dear husband has just come home?” Annie taunted him playfully.

“I know you Annie Edison Winger, you’re up to something, you aren’t the subtlest person in the world.” Jeff teased her.

“Okay, fine.” Annie pretended to concede half-heartedly. “I maaay have gotten you something today.”

“Oh babe, you didn’t have to.” Jeff instantly said, visibly curious. “I hope you didn’t exhaust yourself by staying up all afternoon at the mall.”

“Don’t worry about us, we’re fine.” Annie ensured while gently rubbing her belly. “It’s just that… I know you too, Jeff Winger Edison, and I’ve noticed how you’ve been feeling down this week, so I just thought I’d get you a little something to cheer you up.”

“That’s really sweet, honey.” Jeff said with a soft smile.

“Oh, it’s not much, don’t expect something extraordinary, but I wanted to change things a little bit.”

On that note, Annie turned around and grabbed a nicely arranged bouquet of yellow daffodils on the counter that she swiftly gave to Jeff, excited to see his reaction. As she thought, Jeff looked startled by this gift, holding the flowers in his hands and staring at them as if he was silently studying them.

“Wow, um… Thanks honey, I certainly wasn’t expecting that.” Jeff slowly said without looking away from the flowers once.

“At first I thought about getting you a new cologne, or a new tie, and then I realized – why do our gifts have to be gendered? Why can’t a wife get some flowers for her husband? The florist even asked me if these were for my mother.” Annie ranted, newly annoyed.

“I think Britta’s starting to rub off on you.” Jeff remarked amusingly.

“Well, maybe she is.” Annie said assertively. “Anyway, I saw these gorgeous flowers and I wanted to give them to you because they’re beautiful and they smell good and you deserve some softness and beauty in your life, especially right now.”

Annie started to get passionate in her speech, however, she did not really have to explain herself anymore, because she understood from the sparkle in Jeff’s eyes that he was moved by her little gesture of affection. Jeff then slowly licked his lower lip, lowered his eyes and his lips turned into a light smile.

“I’m going to get my mother’s vintage vase and put these flowers into it, they have to be arranged with something as equally beautiful as them.” Jeff then said.

Annie smiled happily as she watched Jeff filling the vase with water and gently arranging the yellow daffodils into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to AlmightyMirage, who's also writing a super cute alphabet fic, don't hesitate to read it! > https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748215/chapters/62526955#workskin
> 
> And of course, thanks to Readymcreaderson who gave me the idea in the first place <3


	5. E for Eavesdrop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter of some more fluffy content!
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy your reading, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)

**_ Eavesdrop. _ **

On this sunny Saturday afternoon, Annie was throwing her very own baby shower at her house. She was now six months pregnant, and Jeff’s mother, Doreen, had insisted they should celebrate the occasion. Wasn’t it customary, after all?

Annie had obviously jumped on the occasion and prepared a very detailed binder to plan the whole thing thoroughly. Jeff had laughed because her Internet research for these past few weeks had been basically only made of Pinterest mood boards. However, it turned out that Annie Edison was the perfect event planner – not that anyone was doubting about it, of course – and the baby shower happened to be quite a success, much to her pleasure.

Annie was proudly showing around her big belly, letting her friends touch it and smiling when they pretended the baby kicked at them, even though it was not true half of the time. She was glad to be able to catch up with most of her friends, since she hadn’t had time to see everyone in a long time. The adult life happened to be somehow absorbing and overwhelming, and time thus flied in the blink of an eye.

After sharing a polite discussion with her mother, Annie eventually fled to meet her dearest Greendale friends, who greeted her with warm smiles and tiny squeals of excitement.

“An-niiiie!”

“Oh wow Annie, that’s… quite a huge baby belly.”

“I’m happy to see you too, Britta. And hi Shirley, I’m so glad you could make it!”

The three friends proceeded in having a group hug, despite Annie’s belly that quite frankly took a lot of space. Once they were done, Annie smiled happily at Britta and Shirley, then sighed.

“I’m so glad you guys are here.” Annie admitted.

“Of course, we wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Britta assured before taking Annie’s hand.

“So, when are we going to find out the gender?” Shirley giggled excitingly.

“Ugh revealing a baby’s gender over a cake icing is so heteronormative and bina –“

“Please Brit-ta, not now.” Shirley interrupted her promptly.

“We’re going to wait a little bit longer before serving the cake but don’t worry, the suspense won’t last forever.” Annie teased with a smirk.

“Do you and Jeffrey know already or are you going to find out at the same time as the rest of us?” Shirley asked with curiosity.

“Oh we know already, but there’s going to be a little surprise for all of you, you’ll see.”

“Damn, how secretive.” Britta exclaimed.

“Where would be the fun, if not?” Annie laughed. “Oh by the way Britta, where’s Frankie? Haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Hmm, I don’t know actually, she said she was going to help Jeff with something, I think.” Britta shrugged.

“You don’t even know the whereabouts of your girlfriend?”

“Hey I love her and trust her completely, if she’s been gone for too long because she had a dead body to bury, that’s none of my business.” Britta asserted.

“Well, it _is_ kind of your business, isn’t it?” Shirley contradicted in a frightened tone.

“It was a joke Shirley, relax!” Britta protested. “We all know if there was a dead body to bury, I’d be the one to do it.”

Annie lightly laughed at Britta’s joke but quickly insinuated she should take it down a notch when she noticed Shirley’s discontent face. Afterwards, Annie decided to look for Frankie and Jeff because she had not spent much time with her friend since she got here and she also happened to miss her husband a little bit.

When Annie walked inside of the house she was living in with Jeff, she instantly called his name out loud, hoping his answer would help her find him quickly. When she didn’t hear an answer, she pouted and decided to look for him herself. Since he was nowhere to be found on the first floor, Annie had to assume he was probably on the second floor.

“Oh no.” Annie sighed.

Grunting disapprovingly, Annie managed to walk up the stairs one at a time, slowed by her lack of energy due to her pregnancy. When she was finally upstairs after what seemed like an eternity for her, Annie proceeded in finding her husband, who should have apparently been with Frankie. As she was getting closer to the guest’s room, she heard muffled voices becoming more distinct. Annie smiled contently, relieved to recognize the voices of the persons she was currently looking for.

When she stopped in front of the guest’s room and raised her fist to knock on the door, a sentence Frankie said caught Annie off guard and made her hand freeze into the air, suddenly unable to move it.

“What if she doesn’t understand, Jeff?” Frankie was desperately saying.

Annie gulped and instantly lowered her hand, deciding to remain quiet. She knew it was not polite to eavesdrop, especially not on her husband and her friend, but Frankie sounded so desperate Annie could not help but discreetly listen to the discussion occurring in that room.

“Why wouldn’t she understand?” Jeff asked Frankie.

“Well, you know how she can be.” Frankie answered. “We hardly ever agreed on the matter, I don’t see why it would have changed all of a sudden.”

“I think there’s only one way to find out, right?”

“Easier said than done… I’m honestly rather concerned. What if she takes it wrong?”

“Come on Frankie, Britta _loves_ you, you could legitimately be wanted for murder that she would not even ask questions and she’d blindly follow and protect you, Bonnie and Clyde style.”

Annie could not help but smile at Jeff’s comparison because it echoed well enough to what Britta herself had just said a few minutes ago and thus, it could not be truer.

“That’s… quite a disturbing metaphor but I guess I see your point, Jeffrey.” Frankie retorted a few seconds later.

“Seriously though, what do you have to lose? I get that it’s a little scary. But contrary to what you’re thinking, you may be pleasantly surprised.”

“I’m not really sure about that. You know more than I do that Britta was never a fervent supporter of the marriage institution.”

Annie had to refrain the squeal of excitement that tried to escape from her mouth by covering it with her two hands. She started jumping around quietly at the realization that Frankie and Jeff’s secret conversation might actually be more meaningful than she would have originally thought.

“Well, not to make it about me, but I was not a fan of marriage myself a while ago either and look where I am today?” Jeff pointed out.

“You make a good point. As Abed would put it, you’re the ‘dorkiest’ husband there is.”

“I am, most definitely. And it wasn’t long after Annie and I got serious that I wanted to propose, even. But I was so terrified at the thought of being rejected that I couldn’t bring myself to actually doing it. Lucky for us, Annie took the matter into her own hands and proposed herself, otherwise, I don’t know where we’d be right now.”

Annie quietly chuckled at the memory of her proposal to Jeff. She could be reminiscing about it, like she often did, but that would have to be for another time. She was too focused on the conversation happening between her husband and Frankie.

“Look Frankie, I don’t want to push you into doing something you’re not sure about.” Jeff added. “And proposing is definitely something you need to be one hundred percent sure about. I’m just saying that… Even though you think Britta won’t want to get married, sometimes, it’s not about your principles on marriage anymore. Sometimes, it’s about the person you get married to. And when you know it’s the right person, when you know you deeply love them and don’t want to spend another minute of your life without them… Then, your reluctant thoughts on marriage don’t even matter anymore. Because you know you’d do anything to be with the person for the rest of your life.”

Annie felt happy tears flooding her eyes at Jeff’s little speech and she had to quietly sniff while wiping the tears rolling on her cheeks. If someone would see her, she would probably blame it on the hormones – and Britta would have a rant on how sexist it is, but Annie wouldn’t care in the end because she was a sensitive person, really.

“Wow, that was quite a beautiful Winger speech here.” Frankie told him with amusement.

“I know, those will never tire out.” Jeff joked.

Annie smiled through her tears and when she understood their conversation was almost done, she stepped away and walked back down to meet her guests in the garden, feeling overwhelmingly blissful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to AlmightyMirage, who's also writing a super cute alphabet fic, don't hesitate to read it! > https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748215/chapters/62526955#workskin
> 
> And shoutout to Amrywiol as well, who is writing an adorable Hebrew alphabet fic! >  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126658/chapters/66242008
> 
> And of course, thanks to Readymcreaderson who gave me the idea in the first place <3


	6. F for Fireplace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter!!
> 
> I wasn't around at Christmas so I assumed it was only fair I provided a Christmas chapter (even if I'm almost two months late...) Hope you'll enjoy!!

**_ Fireplace. _ **

Christmas at Jeff’s mother’s place always turned out to be quite exhausting for Annie. Not that she minded celebrating Christmas per say, even though celebrating Hanukkah was obviously more important to her. She liked being able to witness the wonder and joy in her daughters’ eyes at the sight of the numerous Christmas presents that Santa – aka their grandmother – was leaving for them under the Christmas tree.

Christmas at Jeff’s mother’s place was exhausting mostly because Annie felt like she had to put on a show every time she was there. She felt like she had to show Jeff’s family that she was a good wife, a good mother, a good guest. As if she had to prove to them, to Doreen in particular, that she earned her place in Jeff’s life, that she earned her place at the dinner’s table every year at Christmas. She knew how ridiculous it sounded and Britta would give her a hard time whenever she happened to mention what she was feeling because, really, why would Annie care about what these people think? As long as Annie was happy with the life she was living, why looking for others’ approval so badly?

Annie knew Britta was right, even though she would then often go on a rant about double standards and the patriarchy putting an extremely unfair pressure on women’s shoulders. Of course she was right – Annie was married to Jeff, not to his family. And Jeff was constantly giving her the love, appreciation and respect she knew she deserved. What she thought and what the man she loved thought should have been the only things that truly mattered. Right?

***

That night, after putting her daughters to bed and wishing a good night to everybody, Annie tossed and turned in bed, her mind parasitized by something Doreen had said. Even though Annie knew Doreen was mostly joking and had no bad intentions behind that thought, she still could not get it off her mind.

_“So, when are you two going to give me a third grandchild?”_

Ela and Zoey were barely two years old, yet, Annie was already expected to get pregnant a second time? Would nothing she was doing ever be enough?

Eventually, feeling like she was not about to fall asleep any time soon, Annie quietly got out of bed to avoid waking Jeff up, put a hoodie on, slipped into her slippers and grabbed her phone to check the time.

Almost one in the morning. Luckily, she would be the only person awakened in the house.

Afterwards, Annie walked down the stairs heading towards the living-room and started putting some wood in the fireplace before lighting a match and throwing it there, watching the flames giving some light to the room under her eyes.

Then, Annie sat down on the floor and leaned against the coffee table, restlessly watching the fire crackle. The sound was oddly soothing and she enjoyed the warmth it was providing her. It was so relaxing her eyes started getting heavier and heavier…

Annie flinched when she felt a hand resting on her shoulder. It looked like she had finally managed to fall asleep, somehow.

“Hey babe, are you okay?”

Annie eased up when she recognized Jeff’s voice. Her muscles loosened again and she silently looked at her husband, sitting on the floor next to her.

“I’m fine, I just couldn’t sleep.” Annie whispered as an answer to Jeff’s question.

“You should’ve woken me up.” Jeff instantly told her with concern in his voice.

“It’s okay, probably just all that eggnog we had, I’ll go back to bed in a bit.” Annie asserted with a pretend smile.

Annie eventually looked away from the fireplace to lock eyes with Jeff and she immediately noticed he was not buying anything she was currently telling him.

“Annie, I can tell something’s wrong.” Jeff softly said.

Annie quietly sighed and lowered her eyes to look at Jeff’s fingers intertwining with hers. Sometimes, she would forget that Jeff could basically read her like an open book because they had been in each other’s life long enough for both of them to know the other perfectly well. And of course, Annie could never lie to Jeff, even if she wanted to.

“I’m going to make a wild guess here.” Jeff eventually added. “Is it what my mom said about us having a third kid?”

Annie’s stomach tightened upon hearing that, even though she could not help but put a half-smile on her face. Indeed, she had no more secrets left for her husband.

“Touché, as usual.” Annie half-heartedly chuckled.

“I’m sorry about that my love, she didn’t mean no harm but it was definitely not very smooth of her to throw that bomb in front of everyone else.” Jeff said with a sad smile.

“Yeah… It’s just… Sometimes, it’s just a lot to feel like what you’re doing is not enough, you know?” Annie tried to explain with a lump in her throat.

“Hey, it doesn’t matter what my mom or anyone else thinks, okay?” Jeff told her in a soothing tone. “What matters is us, our family. I love it just the way it is right now, and I know you do too, and you should absolutely not feel pressured because of other people’s expectations.”

“I know, you’re right, you’re right.” Annie approved in yet another sigh.

“But it’s easier said than done.” Jeff responded for her.

Annie simply nodded and shrugged slowly, feeling defeated. After that, she rested her head on Jeff’s shoulder and focused on the fireplace again.

“By the way, you’re right, Uncle Phil’s eggnog is a real rotgut.” Jeff eventually commented.

Annie started laughing heartily at Jeff’s joke until she realized it was late in the night and she would wake everyone in the house if she did not tone it down. Her behavior made Jeff chuckle as well, and when they both quieted down, Annie admired the fire crackling in the fireplace until she finally fell asleep on Jeff’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to AlmightyMirage, who's also writing a super cute alphabet fic, don't hesitate to read it! > https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748215/chapters/62526955#workskin
> 
> And shoutout to Amrywiol as well, who is writing an adorable Hebrew alphabet fic! >  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126658/chapters/66242008
> 
> And of course, thanks to Readymcreaderson who gave me the idea in the first place <3


	7. G for Gnocchi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!
> 
> The title is a little misleading but it is, in fact, a Valentine's Day chapter. Hope you will like it, kudos, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated :) 
> 
> Enjoy your reading!

**_ Gnocchi. _ **

If someone had told Jeff Winger that one day, he would get overly stressed because he would want to make the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner for his girlfriend, he would have burst out of laughter and told that someone they were completely out of their mind.

And yet, here Jeff was today, overly stressed because he wanted to make the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner for his girlfriend.

Truth be told, it was his first Valentine’s Day with Annie, therefore, he really meant for it to go as smoothly as possible. Jeff knew how much Annie cared about celebrating that holiday, and especially, that she always dreamed of having the most romantic Valentine’s Day ever. The last time she got to spent the 14th of February with a partner was when she was dating Vaughn Tiny-Nipples Miller, so Jeff had put an unreasonable pressure on his shoulders because he wanted to do even better than whatever Vaughn had planned at the time.

Long story short, Jeff wanted to give Annie the most romantic, sweet and beautiful Valentine’s date she could ever hope for. And he had dedicated an alarming amount of time and energy into that, hence the fact that Jeff was currently freaking out in his kitchen because he realized Annie would arrive to his place thirty minutes later and dinner was not even close to being ready.

“ _You know, Jeff, why don’t you try making some homemade gnocchi?_ ” Jeff said out loud in a mocking voice. “ _It is very simple and Annie will love the effort._ Well, I sure hope Annie will like the effort Shirley, because it’s not this stupid failure of a gnocchi that she’ll like. Ugh.” He added in a normal voice.

Jeff started nervously pushing his hair back on his head when he realized he still had plenty of flour and dough on his hands.

“Dammit.” Jeff muttered, annoyed.

Jeff was all over the place and he clenched his teeth when he noticed how the kitchen had turned into a battlefield. He would not even have time to clean it all up before Annie would arrive. Jeff let out a huge defeated sigh and looked at the tiny ugly dough balls in front of him that were supposed to be gnocchi.

“At least, the pesto and the parmesan are done.” Jeff commented while looking at two bowls on the kitchen counter. “I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if we dip breadsticks in the pesto, it’s not the worst meal ever. Oh my god Jeff, you sound ridiculous right now, pull yourself together and finish this damn gnocchi.”

As Jeff proceeded in attempting to turn what was left of dough and mashed potatoes into decently formed gnocchi, his phone’s screen turned on and he instantly took a peek at it.

**\- Annie, 7.15 P.M.**

_Britta is going to drop me off, I’ll be here in 2 minutes, can you buzz me in? :)_

“Why, Annie, why do you always have to be early??” Jeff sighed while nervously wiping his hands against his apron.

Jeff then instantly walked towards the buzzer next to the front door and buzzed Annie in when she texted her again to tell him she was downstairs. Jeff slowly exhaled and threw a desperate glance at the mess that was his kitchen. When he heard a soft knock on the door, Jeff unlocked it and opened it to face Annie, with her classic wide grin and sparkling eyes, holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and a red heart-shaped balloon on which “J + A” was written in the other hand.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Jeff!” Annie exclaimed joyfully.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Annie.” Jeff repeated with a smile.

As Annie jumped on him to give him a hug, Jeff managed to close and lock the front door again before taking her into his arms and making her spin. The sound of her happy giggle made his heart do a somersault.

“It smells sooooo good in here!” Annie exclaimed when her feet touched the ground again.

Jeff awkwardly grimaced as he took the bottle of champagne from Annie’s hand in order to put it in the fridge. Annie followed him to the kitchen and Jeff almost waited for her to gasp out of shock in front of the crime scene that was his gnocchi-making.

“I’m sorry, time… caught up with me and I’m not done making dinner yet.” Jeff confessed as he was looking expectantly at Annie.

“I can see that.” Annie retorted with a smile. “Well, good thing I’m here early then, this way, I can help you.” She added while tying her hair into a neglected ponytail.

“Annie, please, I want you to enjoy this Valentine’s date, I can’t ask you to help me with dinner.” Jeff said in a defeated tone.

“You’re not asking, I’m offering.” Annie contradicted playfully. “Come on Jeff, I don’t mind. Besides, it’ll be done quickly if we both get to it.”

Jeff was about to retort again but Annie had already found another apron that she tied behind her neck and her waist and she was now putting some music on her phone to cook in a good mood. Once she found a playlist, she put her phone down on the kitchen counter and washed her hands carefully.

“So what’s on the menu?” Annie asked as Jeff was putting the bottle of champagne in the fridge.

“Homemade gnocchi with homemade pesto and parmesan.” Jeff responded.

“Wow, yummy.” Annie nodded with a satisfied grin. “Gnocchi doesn’t sound like the easiest thing to make, though.”

“Well you can thank Shirley for that wonderful idea.”

Annie laughed at Jeff’s comment and then, they both stood next to one another, shaping the remaining dough and mashed potatoes into gnocchi.

Later on that evening, as they were savoring the infamous gnocchi, Jeff and Annie exchanged their Valentine’s gifts. Annie gave Jeff a montage of a few pictures of them together to hang on his wall, as for Jeff, he officially gave Annie a key to his apartment in order to ask her to move in with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to AlmightyMirage, who's also writing a super cute alphabet fic, don't hesitate to read it! > https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748215/chapters/62526955#workskin
> 
> And shoutout to Amrywiol as well, who is writing an adorable Hebrew alphabet fic! >  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126658/chapters/66242008
> 
> And of course, thanks to Readymcreaderson who gave me the idea in the first place <3


End file.
